Bihar shelter home abuse: SC asks police why serious sections missing in FIR

The court said that the attitude of Nitish government was ‘shameless, extremely unfortunate and tragic. (File photo)

The Supreme Court Tuesday rebuked the Bihar Police for invoking less serious charges in cases of sexual abuse reported in 14 shelter homes in the state, indicating that it might hand over the cases to the CBI.

The court also slammed the Nitish government, saying its attitude in the matter was “shameless, extremely unfortunate and tragic”. “What are you (Bihar govt) doing? It’s shameful. If the child is sodomised you say it’s nothing? How can you do this? It’s inhuman. We were told that matter will be looked with great seriousness, this is seriousness? Every time I read this file it’s tragic,” the three-judge bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur, S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta said during the hearing.

The apex court has given 24 hours to the Bihar government to add charges under section 377 (rape) IPC and POCSO Act in the FIR, reported news agency ANI

A plea filed by journalist Nivedita Jha through advocate Fauzia Shakil has sought “registration of FIR and independent investigations or court-monitored probe into the affairs of these 14 (other) shelter homes in Bihar mentioned in the TISS report”.

The Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS) report, submitted to the Bihar government, has highlighted gross violations of human rights of inmates in 15 shelter homes in the state, including the Muzaffarpur shelter, whose affairs are now being investigated by the CBI.